Safety vial and cap therefor

ABSTRACT

A safety vial and cap therefor, preferably of resilient plastic material, designed to prevent the inadvertent opening and usage of stored medicines by, for example, young children. The cap has a radially outward projecting cammed locking surface over a portion of its radius, the cap being substantially of a plug type. The cap further has an additional outwardly extending locking lug portion of small angular dimension opposed to the aforementioned outwardly projecting cammed surface. The top of the vial includes an inwardly projecting ribbed section extending around the inner circumference thereof, with a slotted opening therein of substantially the same dimension as the second outwardly projecting locking member of the plug-in cap. Once the cap is inserted into the vial it is necessary to bring the second outwardly projecting locking lug into registry with the slot in the top rib of the vial to permit upward movement of the cap through the slot therein. This will, in addition to locking the cap on the vial to prevent inadvertent opening thereof, further require that the cap be moved into exact registry to permit desired opening. Furthermore, once the cap is inserted onto the vial, except for the slightly extended tab, there are no projections outside the circumference of the cap which would make it possible for someone to forcibly remove the cap from the vial.

United States Patent 1191 Robbins et al.

[ 1 July 29, 1975 1 1 SAFETY VlAL AND CAP THEREFOR [76] Inventors:Douglas R. Robbins, 37 W. Minster;

Samuel B. Robbins, Jr., 19 Beechview, both of Jamestown, NY. 14701 22Filed: Feb. 1, 1974 21 Appl. No.1 438,778

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No.413,922, Nov. 8,

1973, Pat. NO. 3,845,874.

[52] U.S. Cl. 215/211; 215/216; 215/224 [51] Int. Cl. B651) 55/02 [58]Field of Search 215/9, 211-216, 215/206, 355, 224

[561 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,587,896 6/1971 Graff 215/93,669,295 6/1972 Horvath .L 215/206 Primary ExaminerGeorge T. HallAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Cyril A. Krenzer, Esq.

[57] ABSTRACT A safety vial and cap therefor. preferably of resilientplastic material, designed to prevent the inadvertent opening and usageof stored medicines by, for example, young children. The cap has aradially outward projecting cammed locking sutrface over a portion ofits radius, the cap being substantially of a plug type. The cap furtherhas an additional outwardly extending locking lug portion of smallangular dimension opposed to the aforementioned outwardly projectingcar'nmed surface. The top of the vial includes an inwardly projectingribbed section extending around the inner circumference thereof, with aslotted opening therein of substantially the same dimension as thesecond outwardly projecting locking member of the plugin cap. Once thecap is inserted into the vial it is necessary to bring the secondoutwardly projecting locking lug into registry with the slot in the toprib of the vial to permit upward movement of the cap through the. slottherein. This will, in addition to locking the cap on the vial toprevent inadvertent opening thereof, further require that the cap bemoved into exact registry to permit desired opening. Furthermore, oncethe cap is inserted onto the vial, except for the slightly extended tab,there are no projections outside the circumference of the cap whichwould make it possible for someone to forcibly remove the cap from thevial.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 SAFETY VIAL AND CAP THEREFOR CROSSREFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates generally to safety enclosures and more particularlyto a new and improved safety vial with a plug type cap which isparticularly adapted to prevent inadvertent opening of the vial by youngchildren.

Numerous safety vials and caps therefor have been generated in the pastfew years, especially in view of the requirement to avoid havingmedicines, pills and the like inadvertently taken by younger children.While these types of structures have gone a long ways toward theaccomplishment of this objective, they have not been totally successfulbecause of the fact that in almost all causes the bottom portion of thecap has extended outward beyond the sides of the vial container, therebyproviding a surface against which pressure can be exerted, such as forexample, by a bottle opener, knife and the like, to permit a relativelyeasy forced opening of the vial. That is, most of the prior art safetycaps and vials have been of the snap on type cap closure, and ofnecessity being constructed of a resilient material, have thereby beensusceptible to being opened by the exertion of relatively minor amountsof force, such as could easily be exerted by a young child.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is a principal objectof this invention to provide a safety vial with a snap cap whichovercomes the aforementioned disadvantages of prior art devices.

A further object of the invention is to provide a safety vial with a caphaving proscribed safety features, yet which may be easily opened byproper manipulation thereof.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a safety vial with aplug type cap of relatively economic design.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention areaccomplished according to one embodiment by providing a vial the top ofwhich has an inwardly projecting annular ring with a slot cut in a smallangular portion thereof. The plug type cap has an annular cammed surfaceoutwardly projecting from one portion thereof, and a small annularoutwardly projecting second cammed surface opposed thereto, the secondcammed surface adapted to be aligned with the slot cut in the ring atthe top of the vial. The top of the cap is spaced slightly apart fromthe outwardly extending cammed surfaces to thereby provide a closureseal when the cap is snapped into engagement with the ring extendinginwardly on the top of the vial. A small locating tab is spaced on theouter circumference of the cap to facilitate alignment of the opening inthe annular ring of the vial.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of asafety vial and plug-in type closure cap in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the double ring shaped member 17 takenalong lines 2-2 of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the plug type cap taken along lines 33of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the plug type cap taken along lines 44 of FIG.3; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an alternate embodiment of asafety-vial and plug-in type cap in accordance with the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For a better understanding ofthe present invention, together with other and further objects andadvantages thereof, reference is made to the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the abovedescribed drawings.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the improved safety vial and cap thereforincludes a generally cylindrical container 11 open at the top 13 andclosed at the bottom 15. The container 11 is preferably made of atransparent generally rigid plastic material. A double ring shapedmember 17 is adapted to be fitted over the top of the container and hasan outer depending ring shaped portion 19, the inner diameter of whichis approximately equal to the outer diameter of the container 11. Themember 17 also includes an inner depending ring shaped portion 21 whichhas an outer diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of thecontainer 11. The two ring portions 19 and 21 are joined at the top 23to form therebetween a groove 25 into which the top 13 of .the container11 may be inserted and properly affixed, such as by sonic or spinwelding, gluing, etc. The double ring shapedmember is preferably made ofa moldable plastic material and should be of a material that readilybonds or adheres to the material of the container 11.

The inner ring section 21 has a portion 27 removed therefrom or a gaptherein, the purpose of which will become readily apparent in thesubsequent description of the cap adapted to be inserted in the opening29 in the top of the member 17. Referring to the bottom view in FIG. 2of the member 17 taken along the axis 2-2 of FIG. 1, there is shown moreclearly the relationship between the outer depending ring shaped portion19 and the inner depending ring shaped portion 21 defining therebetweenthe groove 25 into which the top 31 of the container 11 is adapted 'tobe inserted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the depth of the inner depending ring member 21 isless than that of the outer depending ring shaped member 19. In analternate configuration (not shown) the inner depending ring shapedmember 19 can be eliminated .so long as the top 23 of the member 17extends inwardly of the top edge 13 of the container 11. In thisalternate embodiment, the gap 27 would be in a portion of the top 23extending inwardly of the top edge 13 of the container 11.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1., the cap 31, preferably made of resilientplastic material for the container includes a generally circular topportion 33 having an outer diameter approximately equal to the outerdiameter of the outer depending ring shaped portion 19 of member 17.Depending from the bottom of the top 33 is a generally ring shaped orhollow cylindrical member 35 having an outer diameter of the ring shapedportion 21 of member 17. Extending outwardly from the outer wall of themember 35 are first and second tabs 37 and 39 respectively, beingapproximately oppositely disposed on the outer wall of the member 35.The tab 37 has an angular displacement approximately equal to the notchor opening 27 in the top of the member 17. The tab 39 preferablyencompasses an angular displacement of between 90 and 180, althoughother angular displacements may be used depending upon the resiliency ofthe material of which the cap 31 is made. Referring to the view of FIG.3, it is seen that the cap 31 additionally has a protuberance or locatortab 41 extending outwardly from the top 33, which locator tab has anangular relationship approximately equal to that of tab portion 37. Thislocator tab 41, of course, extends beyond the outer diameter of member17 when the cap is inserted in the opening 29 in member 17.

Referring next to FIG. 4, according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention, the tabs 37 and 39 are angled inwardly from top to bottom tofacilitate insertion of the cap in the opening even though tab 37 maynot be in alignment with the slot 27 in member 17. Also, as illustratedin FIG. 4, there exists a spacing 43 between the top of tab members 37,39 and the top portion 33 of the cap 31. This spacing 43 should beapproximately equal to the depth of the inner depending ring shapedportion 21 of member 17.

In operation, as previously mentioned the member 17 is suitably affixedto the top of the container 1 l, leaving an opening 29 into thecontainer adapted to receive the cap 31. The cap is inserted into theopening 29 by placing the downward portion of member 35 into the openingand applying pressure to the top of the cap 33. Because of the taperedconfiguration of the tabs 37, 39 and the generally resilient material ofthe cap, only a moderate pressure or force is required to insert the capinto the container to suitably seal it. Once inserted, the tops of thetabs 37, 39 become disposed beneath the bottom of the inner dependingring shaped portion 21 of member 17, thus making it virtually impossiblewithout the exertion of considerable force to remove the cap from thecontainer so long as the tab 37 is not'in alignment with the notch 27 inmember 17. However, if the tab 37 is in alignment with the notch 27 onlya moderate upward pressure is required to remove the cap from thecontainer since the tab 37 passes through the slot 27 and the resiliencyof the cap material permits an inward compression of the walls of thecylindrical portion 35 of the cap 31.

According to an alternate embodiment of the invention, as illustrated inFIG. 5, the inner ring shaped portion 21' can be formed as an integralpart of the top of the cylindrical vial 11', that is, it can be formedin the same mold and at the same time as the vial body 11 is formed.When an injection molding process is used, it may be desirable to addthe bottom to the cylindrical vial 11 in a step after the vial and innerdepending ring 21' are formed. In this manner a suitable opening isprovided in the bottom to facilitate removal of the mold. Alternatively,if a blow molding technique is used, it is, of course, possible to formthe entire vial 11, inner depending ring 21 and bottom 15' in a singlestep.

It should be noted that the embodiment of FIG. 5 is functionallyequivalent to theembodiment shownin FIGS. I-4. Physically the embodimentof FIG. 5 differs from that in FIGS. 1-4 only in that the outerdepending ring portion 19 of FIGS. 14 is unnecessary in the embodimentof FIG. 5. Also, the outer diameter 33 of the cap 31 of FIG. 5 will beapproximately equal to the outer diameter 23 of the via] 11'.

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the shape ofthe vial 11 (and cap 31) need not be restricted to the generallycircular cross-section shown in FIGS. 1-5. The shape could be oval oreven square or rectangular should the need or design preference arise.

Therefore, while the invention has been shown and described inconjunction with the description of a preferred embodiment, it is notintended that the invention be limited to the specifics thereof, butrather is to embrace the full scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety vial and cap therefor, comprising in combination:

a hollow container having generally uniform wall thickness, the top ofsaid container being open and including an inner depending rim shapedportion of a given depth around the inner diameter thereof, said innerdepending rim shaped portion having a slot therein;

a plug type cap comprising an upper portion having a diameterapproximately equal to the outer diameter of said container and a lowerportion depending from said top portion and having an outer diameterapproximately equal to the inner diameter of the inner depending rimshaped portion of said container, further including a first protuberanceon the outside of the lower portion of said plug type cap, said firstprotuberance having a dimension equal to or less than the dimension ofthe slot in said inner depending rim shaped portion-of said container,and a second protuberance on the lower portion of said plug type cap,oppositely disposed with respect to said first protuberance and having adimension greater than the dimension of the slot in said inner dependingrim shaped portion of said container.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said protuberances aretapered so that at the bottom thereof, the protuberances merge into thebottom of the lower portion of said plug type cap and wherein the spacebetween the top of each protuberance and the bottom of the upper portionof said plug type cap is approximately equal to the depth of the innerdepending rim shaped portion of said container.

3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said container is closedat the bottom and wherein said container including its bottom and theinner depending rim shaped portion thereof are formed as an integralunit.

1. A safety vial and cap therefor, comprising in combination: a hollowcontainer having generally uniform wall thickness, the top of saidcontainer being open and including an inner depending rim shaped portionof a given depth around the inner diameter thereof, said inner dependingrim shaped portion having a slot therein; a plug type cap comprising anupper portion having a diameter approximately equal to the outerdiameter of said container and a lower portion depending from said topportion and having an outer diameter approximately equal to the innerdiameter of the inner depending rim shaped portion of said container,further including a first protuberance on the outside of the lowerportion of said plug type cap, said first protuberance having adimension equal to or less than the dimension of the slot in said innerdepending rim shaped portion of said container, and a secondprotuberance on the lower portion of said plug type cap, oppositelydisposed with respect to said first protuberance and having a dimensiongreater than the dimension of the slot in said inner depending rimshaped portion of said container.
 2. The invention according to claim 1wherein said protuberances are tapered so that at the bottom thereof,the protuberances merge into the bottom of the lower portion of saidplug type cap and wherein the space between the top of each protuberanceand the bottom of the upper portion of said plug type cap isapproximately equal to the depth of the inner depending rim shapedportion of said container.
 3. The invention according to claim 1 whereinsaid container is closed at the bottom and wherein said containerincluding its bottom and the inner depending rim shaped portion thereofare formed as an integral unit.